Will athletes be left in the dark? A closer look at the on-campus athletic facilities

The on-campus tennis facility, just like the baseball stadium, lacks lighting, forcing all practices and matches to be played during daylight. (Peter Flint)

Coming off 17 consecutive victories and on the verge of executing a willful comeback in a match against Drexel one year ago, junior Brooke Blackwell of the Women’s Tennis squad was forced to end the contest in a tie due to darkness.

After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker and falling behind 2-5 in the second set, she was able to establish the momentum and went on to win the second set to even the match. Yet, she was unable to finish her comeback.

“For the third set we only had to play a 10 point tiebreaker and I was willing to stick it out and play,” Blackwell said. “But the Drexel coach and player both agreed that it was too dark to see, so they called the match as a draw.”

The George Mason University tennis facility is comprised of six courts, none of which are lighted. Thus, the Men’s and Women’s teams must practice and play all of their matches during the day, or play elsewhere. Occasionally, matches are left unfinished as the sun goes down.

Implementing lights to the current tennis facility, located next to the RAC, would cost the university approximately $350,000, according to the Director of Athletics, Tom O’Connor.

Blackwell understands the financial reasons behind not adding lights to the tennis facility, but believes the benefits would outweigh the costs.

“We would be able to actually finish our matches without worrying about the time constraints for starters, but we would also be able to practice for longer,” she said. “A lot of our practices, especially in the fall, are cut short because of daylight savings time. And the more you practice, the better you get.”

Sophomore Andy Londen, another member of the Women’s Tennis team, also said that the addition of lights could elevate the program to a new level.

“We would get better recruits because they would see that we get the same accommodations as other NCAA teams and it would give us more opportunity to practice,” she said.

Londen and Blackwell have encountered various recruits and their families who visit Mason and are disappointed with the on-campus tennis facilities. Whereas many NCAA Division I programs have lighted and indoor facilities, Mason remains in the dark.

“We need to continue the success we had last year and hopefully things will change,” Londen said.

O’Connor and the Athletic Department plans to hold off on renovating the current tennis facility, however, because they are considering relocating the facility to West Campus. The baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse teams all play at West Campus currently.

“We’re going to have to do something with the tennis courts, there’s no question about that, because they’re not in very good shape,” O’Connor said. “So before we just makeshift and put in lights right now, if we wanted to put in lights, we would rather develop another master plan.”

Despite the lack of lighting on the tennis courts, the neighboring and recently renovated Robinson Field is fully lighted. The field is the home of the club football team and hosts several intramural events, including soccer and flag football.

“It [Robinson Field] was really for intramurals and free play,” O’Connor said. “We felt that having the artificial surface plus the lights would help a great number of people to participate in that particular area and give us flexibility to do some things at night which we didn’t have.”

With the additions made to Robinson Field, the Washington Redskins gave serious consideration to moving their training camp to Mason’s campus in the fall. The Redskins organization is looking to move their annual camp away from Redskins Park, and Mason’s campus was a legitimate contender until the deal fell through earlier this month. O’Connor was unable to promise that the facilities would be ready in time to support such a large ordeal.

Although Robinson Field is used by a wide variety of students, several student-athletes believe their facilities should take priority.

“I think it’s annoying that it has lights considering the football team is not an NCAA team and we are, and we even have to share a training room with them,” Londen said.

Jorge Osuna, a member of the Men’s Tennis squad, agrees with Londen’s complaint.

“I find it odd that Robinson Field has lighting while our courts don't,” he said. “Since the courts host a Varsity team, I would guess it would be the opposite.”

Osuna believes the addition of lights would provide the team with more flexibility in terms of scheduling practices and matches. Without an indoor facility, the Men’s and Women’s teams must travel to country clubs to practice during the winter months, which adds additional costs for the program.
 

Non-student athletes and the courts

The Varsity programs are not the only teams using the courts.

In addition to helping the Division I program, Osuna and his teammates think renovations would also give students more of an opportunity to use the courts recreationally. Located next to the RAC, students are free to use the courts when the teams are not practicing.

“It would encourage more people on campus to become interested in the sport,” Osuna said.

Michelle Le, a senior biology major, has been the co-president of the Mason Tennis Club for the past three years. She co-founded the club her sophomore year, and there have been over 200 students involved with the program since its creation. There are about 60 members currently.

The club is broken down into competitive and non-competitive sections. Only the competitive players travel to intercollegiate matches. Le, who has been taking lessons since she was 10, is a member of the traveling squad.

“I would say the tennis facility that we have here would be at the bottom of the list for quality,” Le said in an e-mailed response. “Many universities in Virginia offer indoor courts and have 12 or more lighted tennis courts throughout their campus. For a university of this size, six unlighted courts are not sufficient.”

Despite Le’s desire to illuminate the on-campus tennis facilities, she also acknowledges that finances stand in the way.

“I realize it would be quite an expense to add lights to the tennis courts, and the addition of lights is probably not a top priority for our school,” she said. “I think this opinion would change if our school officials realized how much the courts are utilized.”

The club doesn’t have access to the courts until after the Varsity teams have finished practice, which is typically around 5:30 p.m. while they are in-season. Early in the fall semester, the club players would have about an hour of practice time before darkness fell. Towards the end of the fall semester and early in the spring, however, darkness may descend even prior to the conclusion of the Varsity practices, giving Le and her fellow club members very little time to use the facility. Playing tennis without full visibility creates a safety concern.

“If we had lights, our season could run longer,” Le said.
 

Beyond the tennis courts

The lighting question, however, does not end with the tennis facilities. The baseball field, located next to the Field House in West Campus, also lacks lighting. Just like the tennis teams, they are forced to schedule all home games during the day.

“Instead of playing Friday night games like bigger schools do, our Friday games are played during the day,” pitcher Ryan Pfaeffle said. “In college baseball, your conference games are played in series of three on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so Friday is very important.”

Pfaeffle agrees with the tennis players that the addition of lighted facilities would help with recruiting and game-attendance.

“If we could play Friday night rather than during the day more people would come to watch, students included, and may make some more money for the school,” he said. “And it would be cool to play in a more exciting atmosphere.”

O’Connor understands the baseball stadium needs work, and says renovation and fundraising plans are already underway.

“The upgrade is really the stands, the dugouts, and the amenities, but the field itself is fantastic and the positioning of the field is great,” he said.

However, O’Connor doesn’t believe adding lights to the facility is financially reasonable because of the limited use they would get. He suspects it would cost about $400,000 to add lights to the field.

“Financially, yeah it’s an issue, but [the problem is] the amount of days that we would actually be able to turn the lights on and with a good temperature that would be pleasing for the fans and the players.”

O’Connor values all of the on-campus facilities, but his top priority at this time would be to renovate the Field House, both the inside amenities and the exterior aesthetics.

“So our concentration would be: ‘a’ the Field House, ‘b’ the baseball stadium, and ‘c’ how the tennis courts would fit into a master plan of all that,” he said.

Though there are improvements still needed, O’Connor believes the advancements that have already been made cannot be ignored.

“The Aquatic Center is first-rate, the RAC is first-rate, the Patriot Center is first-rate, the baseball field itself is great, and the softball facility is fantastic.”

The athletic facilities have come a long way under O’Connor’s reign, but he, along with many student-athletes, believe more can be done to make Mason a first-class NCAA program. With 10 men’s and 10 women’s Division I sports competing in a competitive conference, the CAA, any advantage gained in terms of preparation can go a long way in generating success.